Men's Track & Field

Three Corsairs Earn Little East Conference Track Honors

Dec. 13, 2010

NORTH DARTMOUTH, MA-Three members of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth's track and field team have been honored by the Little East Conference.

Freshman Jessica Masse (Somerville, MA/Somerville HS) has been named Women's Rookie Field Athlete of the Week, freshman Ezra Banks (Boston, MA/Newton South HS) has been named Women's Rookie Track Athlete of the Week, and sophomore Matt Hinthorne (Braintree, MA/Braintree HS) has been selected as Men's Rookie Track Athlete of the Week. Masse and Banks were honored for the second consecutive week.

At Saturday's Harvard Open, Masse finished third in the shot put, and her throw of 42 feet, 6 inches not only broke the school record, but also allowed her to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. In the triple jump, Banks was eighth with a jump of 36 feet. She also ran the 60 meter dash in 8.19 seconds, which set a school record. Hinthorne, who is competing in collegiate track and field for the first time this year, finished fifth at 500 meters in 1:06.83, the third fastest time in school history.

"I'm very pleased," said UMass Dartmouth Head Coach Steve Gardiner. "Jessica has had two meets in a row where she has thrown her all-time best throws, and for her to qualify provincially this early in her career is a credit to the work she has put in, and the work that (Assistant Coach) Darren DeAndrade has been putting in with her. Ezra is certainly progressing as a multiple event athlete, and she is starting to hit her stride. Matt ran a very smart race at Harvard Saturday. After taking a year off from competition, it's amazing how he is running better than ever. He has nice range from the 400 to the 800, and he could be a good point producer for us during the year."

The Corsairs will break for the semester, and return to action at Rhode Island January 14th and 15th.